Combined chair and couch



v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 L. W. PARSONS COMBINED CHAIR AND COUCH Filed Sept.1924 Jan. 17, 1928.

. L. w. PARSONS COMBINED CHAIR AND COUCH Filed Sept. 1924 a 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 17, 1928.

UNITED STATES LEWIS w. PARSONS, or SHIFIRILEY, MASSACHUSETTS.

COMBINED CHAIR AND oouon.

Application filed September a, 1924. Serial No. 738,472.

T his invention relates to household furniture and more particularly tocombined chairs and couches.

The object of the invention is to provide a combined chair and couch theparts of which are so constructed and connected that on the releasing ofa lever the occupant may by gently leaning back cause the back of thechair to move downward and an apron or foot rest at the front tosimultaneously rise and when these members reach the desired anglewhenxthe motion may be checked and the parts locked by dropping thelever which is engaged and heldpwhen so dropped until again manuallyreleased.

Another object is to so construct an article that when opened to itsfull extent will form a couch firmly supported by six legs.

Another object is to so construct such an article of this character thatthe legs and foot rest may be raised and lowered in unison with orindependently of the back.

Another object is to provide a chair of a this character equipped withrear extension legs so hung that they will support the back of the chairat any point.

Still another object is to provide an article of this character in whichthe back, seat, arms, foot rest, automatic extension back legs, andautomatic extension foot rest are pivotally connected to work togetherand' which are controlled by a single lever.

\Vith the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of constructionhereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention hereindisclosed may be made within the scopeof what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 represents a side elevation of achair constructed in accordance with this invention the chair beingshown in upright position in full lines and in its extreme loweredposition in dotted lines in. which latter position it forms a couch;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the opened up for use as a couch;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2;

chair In the embodiment illustrated a seat frame 1 is shown supported bya-pair of front legs 2 and rear legs 3, the front legs being connectedby a cross bar or plate 4 and the rear legs 3 by a similar plate or bar5.

A back has side bars 11 pivotally connected at their lower ends to therear portion of the seat 1 at the sides thereof and at points spacedabove said pivotal connection. These side bars 11 are provided withlaterally and forwardly extending lugs 12 to the front ends of which arepivotally connected the rear ends of the arms 13. The front ends ofthese arms 13 are pivotallyconnected with the members 14: which are cut.

away to receive the upper ends of the bars 17 that are secured thereto.The lower ends of the bars 17 are connected by the bar 18 and provide asupporting frame forthe apron frame 20 to be hereinafter more fullydescribed.

A pairof rear extension legs the individual legs of which are connectedby a rod 31 and a cross bar or plate 32, are pivot ally connected attheir upper ends to the lugs 12 as shown at 16. The cross member 32which connects the sectionsof the exten- .sion legs 30 is L-shaped incross section as shown in Fig. 2 and has pintles 33at the ends thereofjournaled in the leg sections so that said member 32 may p vot when theleg section is moved into and out of. operative position. p p

A bar 34 is fixedly connected at one end 'to the member 32 and has aroller 35 mounted on the lower face of the free end which is designed totravel on a platform or board 36 which extends longitudinally of thechair below the seat. This bar 34 has fixed to its upper face. alongitudinally extending rack bar 37 w th the teeth of which isdesignedto be engaged a crank shaft or rod 38 journaled in the sides of the seatI frame as is shown clearly in Fig. 3. This rod 38 is provided withfingers 39 at its opposite ends which are positioned for con,-

the extension.

venient grasping by the occupant of the chair to release the rod fromthe rack bar when desired and yet is completely concealecl.

' A cross bar 40 is arranged transversely of the back of the chair back10 at a point about midway the length thereof and when the back is swunginto its extreme lowermost position as shown in Fig. 2 this bar -10rests on the member 32 carried by the extension leg 30 providing a solidbase for the back of the chair to rest on. Then the chair back 10 is inits horizontal position as shown in Fig. 2 the leg supporting apronframe 20 at the front end thereof is also in alinement therewith and thechair becomes a couch firmly supported by six legs.

The free ends of the bars 17 overlie the side members 21 of the apronframe 20. The side members 21 are longitudinally grooved on their innerfaces as shown at 22 in which an extension 25 is designed toreciprocate, said grooves forming tracks for The apron frame 20 ispivoted to the front end of the chair seat by the same bolts shown atthat support the members 141 These bolts operate a. axes on which thefront posts or links 1 1 work like levers on a fulcrum.

The supporting frame for the apron frame may be raised to a positioncorresponding to that of the back of the chair and this movement of thesaid frame lifts with it in its upward movement by means of a bar 18 theapron 20, now to be described.

The side members 21 of the apron frame 20 have their upper endspivotally connected with the chair seat frame by means of the bolts 15,said lower portions being located within the bars 17. These side members21 are longitudinally grooved as shown at 22 on their inner faces toform guides for the sliding extension 23. A. cross bar 2'1 connects thelower ends of the frame members 21 and against which the cross bar 18 isdesigned to rest when the apron is in raised position and the chairlowered to form a couch as is shown clearly in Fig. 2.

Brackets 25 are secured to the inner faces of the members 21 near theirinner or upper ends as shown clearly in Fig. 2 and these brackets aredesigned to support rack bars 26 pivoted at one end to the brackets 25and which extend rearwardly under the chair seat with the teeth thereofextended downwardly and designed to engage the upper ends of angle bars27 which are fixed to the cross bar 4 at opposite sides of the chair.Links 28 are pivoted at one end to the lower end of the angle bars 27and at their upper ends to one corner of substantially triangular shapedlevers 29 another corner of which is pivoted to brackets 25 as shown at41. The other corners of the triangular levers or plates 29 arepivotally connected with hinge members 42 which are here shown providedwith right-angular apertured cars 43 pivoted to the plates 29. The upperends of the hinge members 42 are hingedly connected with the inner endsof the apron extension 23. v

A rod 44 extends transversely across the seat frame at the front thereofand is rotatably mounted in brac rets 45 carried by the frame. This rod44 is equipped at its ends with right-angular lingers 46 and carrieslugs 17 which are located beneath the rack bars 26 carried by the apronframe so that the rods may be turned to bring these lugs into engagementwith the rack bars and elevate them to release them from the upper endsof the angle bars 27 and permit the apron to drop down into loweredposition.

The apron 20 may be raised and lowered independently of orsimultaneously with the chair back, it being frequently desired to raisethe apron to support the users legs when the chair back is in uprightposition and this is accomplished by lifting the apron which causes therack bars to slide over the angle irons or bars 27 until the apronreaches the desired height when the release thereof will cause the barsto engage the angle irons and lock the apron in adjusted position. Theraising of the apron beyond a predetermined point causes the slidingextension 23 to move outwardly owing to the lever and link connectionbetween it, the angle bars 27 and the brackets 25.

I claim: w

A chair including a seat frame, a back rest pivotally connected with theseat frame, a forward extension pivotally supported on the seat frame, aboard secured under the seat frame and having an exposed upper surface,extension legs pivotally connected with the back rest. pintles on theextension legs, a bar pivotally mounted on the pintles and having aroller on its inner end, said roller aiiiapted to move over the board tosupport the inner end of the bar, a rigid member carried by the bar andadapted to move to a position under the back and to engage the back restand support the back rest in a horizontal position, and means forsimultaneously moving the forward extension.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto allixedmy signature.

LEWIS PAR-SONS,

